Does Dungeons and Dragons Promote Racism?
Hobbits are lazy drunks
I was reading an article on one of my beloved sites in regards to race creation in RPGS. It got me thinking about something in a sort of goofy way. Does D&D promote the concepts and fundamentals of sterotyping?
Lets think about it for a moment. Races get specific bonuses to different stats. A Tiefling receives a +2 bonus to intelligence. Is this the real world equivilant of “Asians are good at math”? For a long time some races received negatives to certain ability scores, indicating that the race was inferior at a subset of tasks. Kind of scary, but the fun doesn’t stop there.
Most source books will detail a racial trait or attitude. It’s basically a stereotype that Dwarves are grumpy, Elves are snobby and Humans are really the only truly balanced group of the bunch. Again in real world examples is this Blacks are aggressive (but athletic), Jews are cheap (but great with money) and the Chinese are rude? (but hardworking)
I say this all in jest. I know the game developers didn’t have anything like this in mind when they developed the game. But as I get older and I begin thinking of having a family of my own, I think about the dorky things that I do which I would want to share with my children. With that in mind this post was born. How old should the kids be before I introduce them to a simulated world where things try to mimic reality but also giveway to game mechanics?
At what age are kids actually able to separate the game from the real world? I doubt D&D will ever make a child a full-fledge racist, but does it lay the ground work for the type of thinking that would lead someone there? I can’t say yes or no with any certainty, but it’s definitely a question I thought I’d never hear myself asking.
January 2nd, 2010 at 12:27 pm
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January 2nd, 2010 at 7:55 pm
It's not a popular opinion – but stereotyping comes naturally, and it's not necessarily a bad thing.
Recognizing what is similar about a group – whether it is a group of people, a group of animals, or a group of objects – is just a natural function of the brain. And, being honest – few stereotypes are born of complete fiction. Most have at least some basis in fact. Are Asians better at math? Many are – just as there are many black athletes. But these things are often a product of cultural influences. Just like hobbits being lazy drunks. Culturally, hobbits value revel – so celebratory drinks are valued, and work (the opposite of revel) isn't so much. And if you meet a hobbit, it's useful to know that. Just like it's useful to know that culturally, Tieflings value mental development and so tend to be more mentally exercised.
The problem with stereotypes begin when they are taken to be more than they are.
It isn't racist – or even, really, unwise – to recognize that a significant number blacks are exposed to sports and/or compelled to develop athletic skills due to cultural traditions/values/whatever. And it isn't really insulting, either. It isn't even insulting to recognize that many blacks are aggressive for the same reason – cultural influence. Because none of that is a summary judgment of an individual's capacities or limitations – it's just a place to start, when you know nothing about someone.
Here's a much more benign example: most fruit in the produce section of a grocery store tastes sweet – so, if you are presented with a piece of fruit to eat, it is a reasonable assumption that it will be sweet. But not all fruit is sweet – and no cook worth their salt would make a fruit pie from an unfamiliar fruit without at least tasting it first.
However – the cook could at least know to go look in the fruit section for suitable pie contents. They don't have to try all the meats and vegetables first because they have no knowledge of the likely characteristics of food groups.
THAT – is the usefulness of stereotypes. When you know nothing about something, you have a place to start, at least, that will have some merit more often than not. That's also where the usefulness of stereotypes ends.
The only real problem with stereotypes is when they are misunderstood (Jews may place cultural value on being thrifty, but that doesn't mean they are incapable of generosity), or when they are mistaken as racial fact (blacks may tend to be good athletes – but that's because the importance of developing athletic skill was impressed culturally, not because they have some odd 'sports gene'). The truth is, most 'stereotypes' are born of cultural imperatives, not racial ones – but you're always going to have idiots who don't bother to figure that out.
Calling the stereotype the problem, however, is like crediting a hammer with building a house. The hammer – like the stereotype – is just a tool. Useful for a few tasks, but not for others. Now if the racist jackasses of the world could just figure that out and back up off our useful information-sorting tool, it would be much appreciated. =P
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:40 pm
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January 3rd, 2010 at 12:30 am
Excellent feedback. It is a pretty unpopular viewpoint, simply because our minds have difficulty making the points you make when human beings and or feelings are involved. But so much does center around our cultural influences
January 27th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Brain-Unconscious-...